Cheapest ways to clear a hoarded house?

Cakeguts

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Utter nonsense. Hoarding disorder is a spectrum, just like other mental health conditions.

Different people hoard different types of things. Some hoard books, some hoard materials for craft projects, some hoard ornaments/ nick-nacks, some (very sadly) hoard pets. For the most part people accumulate items that they feel emotionally attached to, or perceive as useful. Hoarding anything and everything, or hoarding food waste is rare.

'Entertainment' TV shows are not a reliable sources of information on medical conditions.

I have been into two hoarded houses. Real hoarded houses and they were both full of rubbish. One was full of old newspapers and the other just rubbish. Boxes and boxes piled up of rubbish. The one full of old newspapers was also full of mice. The one that was full of rubbish had carboard boxes of rubbish piled up everywhere in the house and in the garden.

Linton

kinger101 wrote: »

I don't think charities will be interested in sifting through 10 skips-worth of junk. You'll either have to cough-up some cash for a house-clearance company willing to take on this job, or find the time to do it by taking annual leave.

You might need to check the local household recycling centre's policy on vans. Some councils will also require you to prove you reside in the area.

Both Age UK and British Heart Foundation have complete house clearance services for which you pay a charge. They will take anything of any conceivable use and properly dump the rest. I used one of these, I forget which, to clear my father's house. They did an excellent job and the amount of stuff they thought would be useful was very surprising. Some broken furniture and rusty old tools were taken to stock their "man cave" workshop, a local social service to help prevent old men getting isolated.


Yiou should be able to find a local service via Google.

Fire_Fox

Cakeguts wrote: »

I have been into two hoarded houses. Real hoarded houses and they were both full of rubbish. One was full of old newspapers and the other just rubbish. Boxes and boxes piled up of rubbish. The one full of old newspapers was also full of mice. The one that was full of rubbish had carboard boxes of rubbish piled up everywhere in the house and in the garden.

Describing the two houses you have seen as "real" and "true" hoarding is inaccurate, and implies that anything else is a sham or fake. As I said hoarding disorder is a spectrum, just like other mental health conditions. As a disorder of mental health, it warrants empathy or compassion not 'jokes' (post 19).

.

Silvertabby

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Utter nonsense. Hoarding disorder is a spectrum, just like other mental health conditions.

Different people hoard different types of things. Some hoard books, some hoard materials for craft projects, some hoard ornaments/ nick-nacks, some (very sadly) hoard pets. For the most part people accumulate items that they feel emotionally attached to, or perceive as useful. Hoarding anything and everything, or hoarding food waste is rare.

'Entertainment' TV shows are not a reliable sources of information on medical conditions.

A friend, sadly, has a combination of 'hoarding' and 'on-line spending', with the result that most of the stuff piled up in her house is comprised of - seriously - hundreds of unopened boxes. I can't get through to her "I will live the way I want to live" and Social Services can't/won't help as she isn't classed as a vulnerable adult.

Fire_Fox

Silvertabby wrote: »

A friend, sadly, has a combination of 'hoarding' and 'on-line spending', with the result that most of the stuff piled up in her house is comprised of unopened boxes. I can't get through to her "I will live the way I want to live" and Social Services can't/won't help as she isn't classed as a vulnerable adult.

Falls under the remit of the NHS Community Mental Health Team: may require a referral from her family doctor or another agency (eg. mental health charity, debt charity) though.

If your friend has another mental health issue alongside - depression/ anxiety/ OCD are not uncommon - she may be more willing to accept support for that first?

HTH.

NaughtiusMaximus

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Utter nonsense. Hoarding disorder is a spectrum, just like other mental health conditions.

Completely agree, both me and my gf are probably on the milder end of the spectrum, our house is clean, we don't have boxes of random junk everywhere but we do collect various 'stuff'. I'm sure most people would consider it virtually worthless but if we ever came to sell it we're confident we could easily get upwards of £10k for it all.

Cakeguts

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Describing the two houses you have seen as "real" and "true" hoarding is inaccurate, and implies that anything else is a sham or fake. As I said hoarding disorder is a spectrum, just like other mental health conditions. As a disorder of mental health, it warrants empathy or compassion not 'jokes' (post 19).

.

There is also a link between narcissitic personality disorder and hoarding.

lincroft1710

NaughtiusMaximus wrote: »

Completely agree, both me and my gf are probably on the milder end of the spectrum, our house is clean, we don't have boxes of random junk everywhere but we do collect various 'stuff'. I'm sure most people would consider it virtually worthless but if we ever came to sell it we're confident we could easily get upwards of £10k for it all.

But surely that is "collecting" rather than "hoarding"? The items mean something to you and have a purpose in your life.

AdrianC

lincroft1710 wrote: »

But surely that is "collecting" rather than "hoarding"?

The difference is mainly in the eyes of the beholder.

lincroft1710

AdrianC wrote: »

The difference is mainly in the eyes of the beholder.

Until recently I had 1400 books and although very few were "collectable" in the sense of being rare or valuable, to me it was a collection, as they were referred to or read, rather than just stockpiled.